The prison-industrial complex serves capitalism in a number of ways. First and foremost, it is a way of harnessing slave labor to manufacture commercial products that can be sold at high margins; the prisons themselves are a highly profitable industry, and the marketing of goods made by prisoners adds to the bottom line. Second, it permits the incarceration of extremely high numbers of individuals that couldn't be accommodated by state-funded institutions alone. This opportunity presents a way of removing large numbers of potentially radical individuals from society, thereby reducing the likelihood of an organized revolt against injustice and racism. Third, it disciplines the poor and minorities, keeping them cowed in a state of fear and hopelessness.
I give Hedges a lot of credit for putting his body where his mouth is, performing the missionary work of teaching politics, sociology, and economics to imprisoned individuals who've been driven by dire conditions to commit crimes, great or small. He discovered intelligent people behind bars who have a thirst for knowledge that their home environments had deprived them of. His stories show what a tragic waste of human potential is being wrought by an economic system that feeds off of inequality and oppression.
The prison-industrial complex serves capitalism in a number of ways. First and foremost, it is a way of harnessing slave labor to manufacture commercial products that can be sold at high margins; the prisons themselves are a highly profitable industry, and the marketing of goods made by prisoners adds to the bottom line. Second, it permits the incarceration of extremely high numbers of individuals that couldn't be accommodated by state-funded institutions alone. This opportunity presents a way of removing large numbers of potentially radical individuals from society, thereby reducing the likelihood of an organized revolt against injustice and racism. Third, it disciplines the poor and minorities, keeping them cowed in a state of fear and hopelessness.
I give Hedges a lot of credit for putting his body where his mouth is, performing the missionary work of teaching politics, sociology, and economics to imprisoned individuals who've been driven by dire conditions to commit crimes, great or small. He discovered intelligent people behind bars who have a thirst for knowledge that their home environments had deprived them of. His stories show what a tragic waste of human potential is being wrought by an economic system that feeds off of inequality and oppression.